AMERICUS — William Lewis, 50, knows exactly what he wants to do in his life. He wants to get his GED and read a book to his grandsons. It was a shame, said Lewis, but he never had anyone to teach him how to read when he was a child. “Reading has really opened my world,” he said.

Bill Byram, executive director, Americus Literacy Action, and Steve Stanfield, along with a group of citizens — a number of leaders of civic organizations and agencies in the community — want to do that for the children of Sumter County.

As Stanfield said, “Frederick Douglass said it best, ‘Once you learn to read, you will be forever free.’ Douglass’ quote went on to state, “It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.”

With that in mind, Stanfield, Byram and others have formed a community action team to help defeat the problem of illiteracy in Sumter County.

Byram said, “Reading introduces us to our world and worlds beyond. It allows us to learn, to communicate, to learn how to enjoy life, and there are number of other benefits available to bettering our lives through the ordinary concept of reading.”

He continued, “Last year, the local Rotary Club was working on a project to help the community in general, and we, the adult literacy committee, were looking for a way to improve the literacy rate in our community, when we all started corresponding with people, and found out about the Ferst Foundation.”

Inspired by a community program that she read about in the local newspaper in 1999, Robin Ferst established the Ferst Foundation for Childhood Literacy (FFCL) with the primary goal of instilling a lifetime love of reading in every Georgia child.

Beginning in Morgan County and expanding to communities all across Georgia, the Ferst Foundation has already sent over one million books to Georgia’s youngest children and works to serve all Georgia children under the age of five by 2010.

Stanfield’s interest was piqued. “We need to bring the Ferst Foundation in order to improve the ready to start school rate among the children in Sumter County. There are probably somewhere around half the kids in this community ready to enter kindergarten.”

Stanfield continued, “And the facts are there, with this program, that rate has improved to be 90 percent are ready.”

Byram said, “The Ferst Foundation enables communities the opportunity to prove books to every child in the area from birth to up to the age of five. It covers a five-year period, and the child will get 60 books.”

A community luncheon has been planned for noon at June 24 at the Pope Center for community leaders interested in being a part of this program. It is being sponsored by the local Kiwanis and Rotary clubs.

“We want to provide books for all of the children so they can be prepared for reading and learning success,” said Byram.

For more information about the Ferst Foundation and the local effort, call Bill Byram at 924-9010.